In Pictures: Husbands grab wives and run for their lives

The annual UK Wife Carrying Race has ended in joy after a proposal between the winning couple on the finish line.

After coming ahead of the pack in treacherous and slippy conditions, Chris Hepworth and Tanisha Prince, both 28, will now enter the world championships in Finland officially as man and wife.

Dozens of couples carrying each other in various gender combinations braved the wind and the rain in Dorking, Surrey on Sunday morning.

Organisers claim to be keeping alive a tradition that originated with the Vikings in 793AD and persisted for around 300 years.

Wife carrying was re-introduced into the UK by the UK Wife Carrying Race in 2008, after an absence from these shores of nearly 900 years,” according to the event website.

Most couples opted to race in what organisers call the “Estonian hold” position, which involves the person being carried hanging upside down on the carrier’s back with their thighs dangling onto their chest.